PENNSYLVANIA
WFMJ
: Apr 06, 2018
By Mike Gauntner, Online Content Manager
ERIE, Pa. –
The Diocese that covers Catholic churches and schools in Mercer and 12 other counties in Northwest Pennsylvania has unveiled what it says is a new policy for the protection of children.
Last month the diocese said that it planned to take steps similar to the Diocese of Buffalo that recently published a list of the names of 42 priests who have been credibly accused of sex abuse.
In an announcement Friday, the Diocese announced an update in policy regarding sexual abuse allegations.
An outline says that the biggest changes to the policy include:
An expansion of the scope of the abuse sought to be prevented to include sexual, physical, emotional, and neglectful abuse;
Inclusion of numerous detailed examples and red flags in both our policy and training materials to educate people on how to recognize abuse or unsafe situations;
Reliance by the diocese on independent, professional investigators and lawyers to ensure the best possibility of arriving at the truth concerning each allegation, while respecting the rights of all and offering full cooperation with law enforcement; and
The creation of a transparent and centralized system to encourage abuse reporting, screen personnel, document investigative findings, and inform the community about abuse-related employment or volunteerism decisions.
That final point, the transparency, includes operating a website in which the diocese lists the names of individuals who were previously employed by (or volunteered for or considered by) the Diocese of Erie or any related agency, but are now are prohibited from such employment (or volunteerism).
That list includes those who are still living and those who have passed.
According to the diocese, some of the names on the list may be recognizable as a result of a criminal conviction or other public report, however, other names are being disclosed publicly for the first time.
Officials say some people on this list cannot be convicted of a crime because of the passage of time, legal technicalities, their present whereabouts or mental state, or other factors; nonetheless, these people will not be accepted as employees or volunteers by the Diocese of Erie.
However, officials say every person named on this list was credibly accused of actions that, in the diocese’s judgment, disqualify that person from working with children. Such actions could include the use of child pornography, furnishing pornography to minors, corruption of minors, violating a child-protection policy, failure to prevent abuse that they knew to be happening, and — in some cases — direct physical sexual abuse or sexual assault of minors.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.